Affordable Housing

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Affordable Housing

The City of St. John’s believes affordable housing is a foundation for a safe, prosperous and healthy community.

To be affordable, housing must cost less than 30 per cent of pre-tax household income including housing and related costs. For renters, shelter costs include rent and utilities. For owners, shelter costs include mortgage payments, property taxes, condominium fees and utilities.

The City has a long history of leadership in this field, including the creation and management of affordable housing for over 400 households since 1982. In the past decade, the cost of rental and home ownership have risen very sharply and there is much work to be done. Our City can't make advancements in housing alone. To fully address our municipality’s housing needs, we must work in-step with partners, stakeholders and residents to create and maintain safe, suitable, and affordable housing throughout the city.

The City’s first Affordable Housing Business Plan (AHBP), Creating Opportunities, Housing Our Community, was approved by Council in 2014 and ran until September 2017. The Plan was based on the City’s core belief that housing is a human right and that everyone needs and deserves a home that is affordable to them. Continuing and expanding on the commitments of the AHBP, Council approved in November 2018, a new 10-year Affordable Housing Strategy (AHS) for the City of St. John’s. The AHS looks at solutions across the housing continuum with a particular focus on creating housing that is affordable to households in a growing affordability gap: those with incomes too high for a housing subsidy but too low to afford market rental or ownership options.

For more information on the City’s affordable housing work; explore the FAQ’s on this site, review the housing related publications and/or contact the City’s Affordable Housing Development Facilitator at 709-570-2096 or affordablehousing@stjohns.ca. You can also sign up for our Affordable Housing Newsletter to stay informed of our initiatives and events.